


Real or Fake?

by sapphicbitxh



Category: The Haunting of Bly Manor (TV)
Genre: F/F, Fake Dating, Maybe smutty?, Modern AU, fluffy and happy, no ghosts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:15:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28002987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphicbitxh/pseuds/sapphicbitxh
Summary: Dani and Jamie are set up on a blind date by mutual friends and it goes terribly. Dani thinks she has seen the last of Jamie, until her mom calls and Dani lies and says she is in a relationship. In a panic Dani says she is dating Jamie and then her mom insists on flying them to America for the holidays. Then Dani has to convince Jamie to go along with the lie and go home with her.Modern AU with fake dating trope. No ghosts or anything sad. I'm really bad at summaries, sorry.
Relationships: Dani Clayton & Jamie, damie - Relationship, implied hannah and owen, mentions of dani & eddie
Comments: 9
Kudos: 81





	1. Chapter 1

“Hannah, I've already told you a million times. I don’t want you to set me up on blind dates anymore. It’s exhausting and it never works out.” Dani said, sighing as she looked at her best friend. “Really Hannah, i’m okay. It will happen when it happens.”

“Dani, I don’t believe that for a second. There is nothing wrong with being single, but you’ve been on your own for almost a year now. You and Eddie broke up when you came out but haven’t dated anyone since.”

“Not for lack of trying! I just didn’t realize how difficult it would be to date women.”

“So let me help you!” Hannah said grinning and Dani started to groan, knowing exactly what Hannah was going to say. “Jamie is great! She’s an old friend of Owen’s from school. I actually haven’t met her yet myself but…” Dani interrupted her,

“Hannah, no! You don’t even know her and we are really going to take Owen’s word for who I should date? Remember when he set me up with Rose?”

“That was different! Owen didn’t know that her and her girlfriend had just broken up.” Hannah said defensively.

“It was the longest date of my life, Hannah. She was on the verge of tears the whole time and couldn’t stop talking about her ex. I had to drink myself into oblivion!”

“Okay, fine you are right.” Hannah said, “But if you go on this one last date, I promise I will be done trying to set you up.”

“Ugh okay, fine. Last date and then I am done!” Dani said, defeated. Hannah smiled.

“Yay! Dani you never know, Jamie could be the one!”

“I seriously doubt that Hannah.” Dani said, rolling her eyes.

A week later, thanks to Hannah and Owen’s meddling in her love life, Dani found herself waiting outside a restaurant in Bly. Dani was shivering in the cold December air and looked down at her watch. Jamie was late. Dani was trying to go into this with an open mind but found herself getting slightly annoyed with Jamie’s tardiness. After another five minutes Dani saw a woman walking up to the restaurant. She was beautiful. She had shoulder length curly brown hair and striking blue eyes. The woman walked past Dani to head for the door.

“Uh, excuse me? Are you Jamie?” Dani asked, shyly. The woman turned around to face her and looked her up and down.

“You Dani?” She asked looking into Dani’s eyes.

“Uh, yes. It’s nice to meet you. Owen’s told me so much about you!” Dani said, reaching her hand out to shake Jamie’s.

“You’re American?”

“Um, yes. I moved here about a year ago now. We could talk about it more inside though?” Dani asked looking into the restaurant. Jamie nodded and they headed inside. Once they were sitting and ordered they fell into an awkward silence. “So um Owen said that you are a gardener?” Dani asked.

“Yes, I manage the grounds at Bly Manor.” Jamie said, taking a sip of water. “So what line of work are you in?”

“I’m a teacher. I teach fourth grade at the primary school here in town.” Dani said, proudly.

“Ah Children” Jamie said, frowning.

“You don’t like kids?” Dani asked.

“No, not at all.” Jamie said chuckling. All Dani could say in response was a weak ‘oh’. Dani didn’t believe in getting too deep or forward on the first date, but she had always imagined herself with kids and wasn’t interested in being with someone who didn’t want any. Dani glanced down at her watch. “Desperate to leave already, eh?” Jamie asked, taking a drink of her beer.

“Oh no, i’m sorry I was just fidgeting.” Dani said, blushing.

“It’s alright, I’m just here as a favor to Owen, anyways.” Jamie said, nonchalantly. Even though Dani was really only there to appease Hannah, she felt anger rise in her chest. “Oh don’t get worked up, i’m sure you could already tell this wasn’t going to work out.”

“I still think it's rude to completely write me off before the date has even started. You didn’t even give me a chance. Why even come?” Dani asked, trying to keep her voice steady.

“Look, Poppins. Don’t get upset-”

“What did you call me?” Dani asked, no longer hiding her anger.

“It’s just a nickname, because you like kids. You know Mary Poppins?” Jamie said, smirking. Dani had about had it with this woman. She was cocky and arrogant and everything that Dani did not want in a partner.

“You know what, you’re right. This is not going to work out.” Dani said, standing up and grabbing her jacket.

“Leaving so soon, Poppins?” Jamie asked, clearly enjoying the rise she was getting from Dani. Jamie stood up and threw some cash on the table to cover the bill and walked out after Dani. Once outside Dani walked away without a word. Jamie grabbed her arm, forcing Dani to spin around.

“What?” Dani asked, clearly irritated.

“Look, Dani I didn’t mean to come across as a jerk. I swear i’m usually not like this-” Dani interrupted her.

“What, insufferable? Rude? I could keep going” Dani said, moving her face closer to Jamie’s. Dani looked into Jamie’s eyes. They really were a striking blue, so deep and mesmerizing. Dani hadn’t looked at Jamie this closely yet. She had beautiful skin and close up you could see a few freckles on her nose. Her cheeks were rosy from the cold and so was the tip of her nose. Her lips were so pink and looked so soft. Suddenly, Dani thought about what it would be like to kiss those lips. Jamie noticed Dani looking at her lips and smirked. Something inside Dani, whether it be desperation or loneliness overcame Dani and she pressed her lips to Jamie’s. Dani was right, Jamie’s lips were as soft and full as a pillow. Dani felt Jamie’s tongue brush against her bottom lip and she opened her mouth to give Jamie full access. Dani felt weak in the knees, she couldn’t think about how annoying or irritating Jamie had just been five minutes earlier, all she could do was think about the passion she felt while kissing her. After a few minutes, they pulled away breathless. Dani suddenly felt embarrassed. She had been yelling at Jamie and then had randomly kissed her. Just as Dani was about to say sorry Jamie spoke.

“Goodnight, Poppins.” She winked and walked away. Dani was speechless and unsure of what to do. Finally, she started walking towards her car. She pulled out her phone to call Hannah when her phone started ringing. Thinking it was Hannah, Dani answered and started to talk.

“Oh thank god Hannah you are not going to believe this I-”

“Dani, darling it’s mom.” Dani immediately stopped talking.

“Oh sorry, hi mom. How are you?” Dani pretended to listen to her mom talk about the latest neighborhood gossip, but Dani couldn’t stop thinking about kissing Jamie.

“Did you hear me, Dani?” Dani came out of her daydream and responded to her mother asking her to repeat the question. “I asked how everything is going there dear? How is work?”

“It’s good! I love my job, the kids are great! I actually-” Her mom interrupted her.

“Great, how is your love life? Are you seeing anyone?” Dani rolled her eyes. There was the real reason her mom had called her. Before leaving to come to England, Dani had told her mom that she is gay and her mom hadn’t taken it too well. She tried to seem supportive but told Dani it was probably just a phase and she could always come home and go back to Eddie once she got it out of her system.

“Mom, it’s uh fine I guess.” Dani said, pulling a string on her sweatshirt.

“Oh darling, maybe it’s time you come home. Eddie is still single and i’m sure he would take you back if you just explained that you were just curious-”

“Mom, it’s not a phase! I am a lesbian!” Dani yelled into the phone.

“Look, Dani there is no need to get mad. It’s just been a year and you haven’t dated anyone and I just thought maybe you had changed your mind.” Without even thinking Dani started lying.

“Actually mom, I am seeing someone. Yeah, her name is Jamie. It’s still pretty new but I really think it could be something real.” Dani started mentally kicking herself.

“Oh! Well that's great, dear! I was going to surprise you but I might as well just tell you know! I bought you airline tickets for Christmas! I figured you would want to spend Christmas at home so I bought you tickets! You and your girlfriend leave in a week!” Dani felt her heart sink. This is what she gets for lying.

“Oh mom, you really don’t have to do that. We couldn’t possibly come.” Dani said, trying to figure out a way out of this mess.

“Don’t be ridiculous, we have never spent Christmas apart and i’m so excited to meet your girlfriend!”

“I don’t know if Jamie could get the time off to come. I’m sorry, I just don’t think it will work out mom.”

“Oh no, hmm I could come to you! I would love to see England and meet all your friends and-” Dani panicked, she did not want her mom coming to England and invading the life she had made.

“Actually mom, I think Jamie and I could make it work! I will talk to her and then I’ll call you in a few days.” Dani quickly said.

“Good! I’ll talk to you soon. Love you dear!” Dani mumbled a goodbye and hung up. She had really gotten herself into this time.


	2. Real or Fake?

Dani spent the rest of the weekend hiding in her apartment and avoiding all phone calls and texts. She knew she had really fucked up and how she didn’t know how she was going to get herself out of this mess. On Sunday evening there was a knock on Dani’s door. Dani groaned and got up out of her cocoon of blankets and opened the door to see Hannah.

“Hi darling, how are you?” Hannah asked as she walked in and took off her coat.

“Not well.” Dani said as she crawled back into her blankets.

“I figured from your lack of communication” Hannah said as she gave Dani a disapproving look, “Did something happen with Jamie? You never called after your date. I assumed you went home with her but then you didn’t respond all weekend.” Dani took a deep breath and tried to figure out how she was going to explain to Hannah the mess that she had gotten herself into. 

“Hannah, I fucked up.” Dani said as she held back tears. Hannah immediately went to Dani and sat next to her. “The date was sort of a disaster. Jamie was cocky and arrogant and it ended almost as soon as it started. But on the way out…” Dani’s sentence cut off as she replayed the kiss in her mind. Hannah stayed silent as she waited for Dani to finish. “I kissed her, and it was an amazing kiss, Hannah. I don’t think i’ve ever felt so much passion in a kiss before.” Hannah smiled at her and Dani groaned and put her face into a pillow.

“Darling that doesn’t sound so bad. Maybe there is something there and you just need to give Jamie another chance.”

“That’s not even the bad part.” Hannah gave her a confused look. “My mom called me while I was walking to my car. She caught me off guard and got back into her ‘this is a phase’ bullshit. I could stand to listen to her talk about how single I am and that I could go back to Eddie so I told her that Jamie and I are a couple. Then she surprised me with flight tickets for the holidays for Jamie and I.”

“Why don’t you just tell your mom that you can’t come?” Hannah asked.

“I tried that and then she offered to come here, which is a million times worse.” Dani shook her head as she spoke.

“What are you going to do?”

“This is going to sound crazy, but I am going to ask Jamie to come home with me and pretend to be my girlfriend.” Hannah gave her a concerned look.

“I don’t think that’s the best idea, Dani.”

“Listen Hannah, I know it sounds insane and lying is bad, but if I could just show my family that I am in a happy relationship with a woman then they would finally accept it and leave me alone.” Hannah started to speak and Dani interrupted her “Even on the phone when I told my mom about Jamie she immediately was more accepting and even excited at the thought of meeting my girlfriend.”

“You mean your fake girlfriend?” Hannah said, rolling her eyes. “As your best friend I am going to be honest with you. I think that this is a bad idea. But I will support you in your decision and do whatever I can to make this easiest for you.” Dani smiled and threw her arms around Hannah.

“Thank you so much. I know this is not ideal but I just need to get through the holidays.”

“The only problem is, how are you going to get Jamie to go along with this?” Dani’s smile faded.

“I am going to go talk to her tomorrow and ask her nicely to help me out.” Hannah started laughing.

“Good luck with that, love.”

-

The next day Dani walked nervously to the front door of Bly Manor. She hadn’t told Jamie she was coming but had Hannah explain the situation to Owen. She knocked on the door and Owen greeted her and told her where she could find Jamie. Dani walked out through the house to go back outside and head towards the green house where Owen said Jamie would be. Dani walked into the greenhouse and saw Jamie look up at her while she was watering plants.

“Poppins, what are you doing here?” Jamie asked while eyeing her suspiciously. 

“Uh hey Jamie, I wanted to talk to you about something.” Dani said as she nervously tucked her hair behind her ears.

“Ah yes Owen told me that you were going to come today and ask me something crazy.” Jamie sat down her watering can and gave her full attention to Dani.

“So what I am about to ask you is a huge favor and I understand completely if you won’t do it. But I am hoping that you will because it would make my life so much easier-” Jamie interrupted her.

“Just spit it out Poppins.”

“Right okay. So after our date my overbearing mother may have called me and I may have lied and told her that you and I are a couple and then she may have asked-well more like demanded-us to come to America for the holidays. So I was hoping that you would go with me?” Dani said quickly.

“Well shit Poppins I thought that kiss was good but I didn’t realize we were girlfriends now” Jamie said with a smug smile. Dani started to blush at Jamie’s admittance of liking the kiss. “I don’t get it, why would you lie to your mom?” Dani took a deep breath.

“I came out to my family a year ago right before I moved here. Before that I had been in a long term relationship with a man everyone expected me to marry. My mother didn’t believe me when I came out and told me it was just a phase. The night of our date she told me that I could always come back and apologize to my ex and get back with him. She thought that because I’m not dating anyone I had changed my mind about being a lesbian.” Dani said while looking down at her hands.

“Fuck that’s messed up Dani. I’m sorry.” Jamie said.

“When I told her that I was seeing someone, it almost felt like she could accept me and move on. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t need my family’s approval but it would be nice to have. I just want to get them off my back before I have to cut them off completely. If they saw me with a woman, I think it would become real to them and then we could stop talking about it all the time.” Jamie looked at the ground and they were both silent for a few minutes before Jamie spoke.

“Okay, I’ll do it.” Dani couldn’t believe her ears.

“What? Just like that?” Jamie walked to Dani and grabbed her hand as she spoke. 

“Yes Poppins believe it or not, I am not a total bitch. I know what it is like to not be accepted by your family. If you think this will work then I trust you. I will help you do this.” Dani felt an instant rush of gratitude towards Jamie and she threw her arms around her to hug her. Jamie was thrown off by Dani’s reaction but quickly responded by putting her arms around Dani. Dani breathed in Jamie’s scent and realized that she liked this side of Jamie. Dani was practically a stranger and yet Jamie had just agreed to do the biggest favor ever for her. Maybe Dani’s initial impressions of her had been wrong afterall. After a minute Dani realized how long they had been hugging and felt her cheeks flush. She pulled away from Jamie.

“Thank you, Jamie. This really means so much to me.” Dani said grinning at her. 

“Of course Poppins. Now when do we leave?” Jamie asked.

Dani had gotten herself into a huge mess, but maybe now that Jamie was on board it wouldn’t be so bad?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Next chapter coming soon. :)
> 
> twitter: makayla383


	3. Real or Fake?

A week later Dani and Jamie were on a plane on their way to Dani’s hometown. With every minute that passed by Dani felt more and more anxious. She was so thankful that Jamie had agreed to come with her to her family’s Christmas but was extremely anxious about being a convincing couple. As Dani was thinking about all the things that could go wrong, Jamie started speaking.

“Dani, are you alright?” Dani shook her head and looked at Jamie.

“I’m really nervous. I just want everything to go smoothly and be over as fast as possible.” Jamie nodded her head and listened as Dani continued on, “I don’t think I thought this through. How is my family going to believe that we are a couple? We don’t seem like one.”

“We will just have to go through the motions of being a couple then, won’t we?” Jamie grabbed Dani’s hand and squeezed it gently. “We will hold hands, call each other pet names, and make googly eyes at each other.” Jamie said chuckling.

“I wanted to ask you what you were comfortable with doing.” Dani said shyly.

“I’m comfortable with whatever needs to happen to convince your family.” Dani nodded and blushed slightly.

“You know this soft side of you is kind of throwing me off.” Dani said.

“Don’t worry Poppins, once this trip is over, I will go back to my old self. Insufferable and rude is how you put it; I think.” Dani blushed deeper.

“I’m sorry about that Jamie, I judged you too harshly. I should have given you more of a chance.”

“I knew you didn’t mean it. That kiss was very telling.” Jamie said smirking. Dani cover her face with her hands.

“Ugh that’s embarrassing, I shouldn’t have kissed you like that. It was a heat of the moment thing.” Jamie almost looked hurt, which surprised Dani.

“It’s fine. I get it. We would be a disaster together anyways.” Now Dani felt slightly hurt by Jamie’s words.

“Yeah, definitely.” Dani said, trying to seem nonchalant. “We should keep things between us friendly. Especially for the trip, we don’t need to complicate things.” Dani said looking down.

“You say that now, Poppins, but I don’t think you are going to be able to resist me.” Jamie said teasingly.

“Please, I don’t think that will happen.” Dani said slightly shuddering thinking about what it would be like to give into Jamie. It was getting harder for her to deny the attraction she felt to Jamie.

“Just wait, in a week you are going to be begging to go to bed with me” Jamie said winking.

“You know what, I take it back. My first opinion of you wasn’t inaccurate after all.” Dani said rolling her eyes and playfully pushing Jamie. As the pair continued to argue, the flight attendant announced that they were beginning to land. The nerves immediately settled back in for Dani and she bit her lip.

“Dani, we are going to get through this.” Dani nodded and tried to believe Jamie.

Once they landed and found their luggage, the pair looked around the terminal for Dani’s brother who was supposed to pick them up. Dani finally saw her brother, Dylan and ran over to hug him.

“Dani! How are you sis?” Dylan asked as he hugged Dani.

“I’m good! I’m so happy to see you. Dylan this is Jamie, Jamie this is my older brother Dylan.” Jamie stuck out her hand to shake Dylan’s and Dylan ignored her hand and instead pulled her into a hug.

“Jamie! It’s so nice to meet you.” Jamie looked slightly uncomfortable but returned Dylan’s hug. “We better get going, everyone is waiting at the house to see you both.”

“Oh great.” Dani said sarcastically as her and Jamie followed Dylan out to his car. As Dylan drove Dani talked about who Jamie would be meeting that night.

“You just met Dylan. You will meet his wife, Alyssa and their two kids, Miles and Flora. Dylan and Alyssa are the best. Both are very kind; we don’t have anything to worry about with them.” Jamie nodded along. “Dylan and Alyssa were actually the only ones who were accepting of me from the very beginning. Alyssa was the one who encouraged me to come to England and find myself, without the rest of my family getting in the way.”

“So, you are the closest with them?” Jamie asked.

“Yes, definitely. Dylan and I have always been really close. He was like my best friend growing up.”

“Is he your only sibling?” Dani frowned.

“Uh no. I have an older sister as well. Diana. Our relationship is a bit more complicated. She isn’t quite as accepting of me. You will also meet her husband, John.” Jamie nodded and looked out the window.

“Okay, here we are! You ready to meet the fam, Jamie?” Dylan asked giving Jamie a goofy grin.

“As I’ll ever be.” Jamie said as they got out of the car. Dylan got their bags out of the trunk and the three of them headed for the door. Dani started to feel extremely anxious with every step that they took. Jamie noticed Dani’s anxiety and reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry it has taken me so long to upload another chapter! Also sorry this one is short. Since I am on break from school my mind has been mush. I will hopefully get a longer chapter up very soon!! :)
> 
> twitter: makayla383

**Author's Note:**

> I will try to have chapter two up by the end of the week! Let me know what you think :)
> 
> twitter: makayla383


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